Wilder Nightingale Fine Art

My art is a reflection of my passion for the landscape, animals and people of the West. I am a self taught artist and these thoughts/ visions are purely my own.

I start with a very small rough thumbnail sketch to get the composition right and then go directly to canvas. Once I know where the lighting is coming from the rest is a playground of abstraction. Using a palette knife I start to apply spontaneous strokes of thick oil paint, one on top of the other. I do not think about it, I just react to the paint and the emotional energy within myself. After applying many layers of paint, new shapes, colors and images appear and a buffalo or rugged mountain landscape starts to emerge through the paint. I sometimes add two or three colors onto the palette knife, just to see what will happen.

By working in this wet on wet technique, the joy for me is making new discoveries with each painting. I don’t have set colors or details in mind, it could look many different ways. It’s not a matter of looking right, it’s a matter of feeling right. Each stroke of color is a journey and I embrace the mistakes to find the beauty and live in the moment of every painting created.

My goal is to convey constant motion, spiritual energy and show absolute beauty in creating my own personal vision of Colorado and the Southwest.

Biography
My home and studio are nestled next to the beautiful Rocky Mountains near Roxborough Park, Colorado. I have been an artist and illustrator for over twenty five years and lived in Colorado for most of my life. Previously I was a freelance illustrator and created illustrations for national advertising agencies, design firms and publications. Some of my clients included IBM, Coors Light, McGraw-Hill Publishing and American Express.

I am a full time painter and have been selling these new contemporary oil paintings here in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming and Oklahoma.